Change in SVN ELITE benefits

[VacationPro]

KOR5STAR's post represents the reason "requalifying" was not discussed publicly on TUG for many years.

I was a bit taken aback by that comment as well--I don't see how the "requalifying" of weeks has anything to do with the 5 star benefits received. Explaining how you game the system is pretty bold, too--it essentially confirms their point that an upgrade was "expected", even if it was during off-peak times.

My bet is that Starwood will "reinstate" upgrades at check-in or with-in a very narrow window. I think the existing window is costing them a pretty significant chunk of change. With this approach, owners will at least feel like they were heard, and Starwood gets what it needs in terms of cost savings.

 

[LisaRex]

As said before - the best thing SVO/SVN could do is create a fair and equitable system for reservations and upgrades - AND get with the new century and UPGRADE their archiac computer database and reservation system that would save them (or us as duke puts it) tons of money.

Absolutely agree. As I've said before, I'd trade weeks for a higher floor before I'd accept a 1st or 2nd floor OF unit for another week. I think that room assignment has caused a lot of unnecessary angst among all owners. Some people like me don't even consider booking a unit if it's past one year out. I'm afraid that I'd be caller 300 and end up with the crappiest room in the place even though I paid $50k for my unit. My perception is probably light years from reality, but when you're given no information, it's tough to be informed.

The second biggest concern to me is rising MFs. For places on the ocean like WKORV and WPORV, I think there are ways to reduce MFs that SVO needs to consider. For instance, after giving elites complimentary upgrades, if any units were available they could offer lesser view owners, then internal SVN traders, then II traders, a one level view upgrade for $x ($500-1000) and put the money in a pool to lower the MFs for everyone. Or if they remain unbooked they could offer those units to renters at the highest price they could fetch, with the profits going into the common fund. Of course, that would require having a computerized system and moving away from the archaic system they have now.

***
Unrelated question: I know that folks at voluntary resorts cannot trade within the SVN. But can owners of mandatory resorts trade INTO these resorts?

 

[duke]

Here's my bet on what SVO will do now:

1. Reinstate upgrades for 4* and 5* ELITES.

2. Implement a tiered starpoint bonus for ELITES: 3* 10%, 4* 15%, and 5* 20%.

The discussion here and the e-mails should really have an effect.

Please keep up the comments.

Just my opinion......

duke

 

[KOR5Star]

I was a bit taken aback by that comment as well--I don't see how the "requalifying" of weeks has anything to do with the 5 star benefits received. Explaining how you game the system is pretty bold, too--it essentially confirms their point that an upgrade was "expected", even if it was during off-peak times.

My bet is that Starwood will "reinstate" upgrades at check-in or with-in a very narrow window. I think the existing window is costing them a pretty significant chunk of change. With this approach, owners will at least feel like they were heard, and Starwood gets what it needs in terms of cost savings.

I'm against requals. There is no need to do this. These weeks fly out of inventory without the incentive. I'm more than a little annoyed that I was told the only way to 5 Star was through buying from the developer, then I find people being allowed to circumvent the system for business reasons that completely escape me.

The "gaming the system", as you put it, is Starwood's own explaination of how you get the most out of your 5 Star membership. The strategy was presented by a VP in a in NYC in the Sheraton Hotel and Towers. It was the first in the series of informational seminars for owners.

...not that anyone would need a presentation to realize how to use an "as available" upgrade benefit most effectively.

How you get the idea that it confirms I would "expect" an upgrade is beyond me. I even wrote in my letter that it was on an availablity basis.

It's pretty clear to me you're upset with the idea I'm against requals, so now you're reaching for anything else to smear me... label me a pompous demander of amenities.

 

[mepiccolo]

I thought about this and knew it would not be popular for single week owners. I can understand why, but i do not think the numbers and the math would cause a big issue. There are 1300 5* members. I do not think based on the growth of Starwood that this would impact availability. Marriot owners can chime in, but keep in mind, this was one of a couiple of ideas, there may be a perk in there somewhere.

But Starwood has to think of all its future sales to new owners. If the percentage of 5* members is so small, why would they risk making hundreds of their owners unhappy (not to mention discourage potential future buyers) for this minor percentage of 5* members? It's essentially telling all future potential buyers that they are buying into a two-class system. That first timeshare sale is the most difficult one to make - why would Starwood make it harder on themselves to make that first sale?

 

[grgs]

It was SPECIFICALLY Marriott's multi-week 13-month window privilege which kept us from buying a Marriott timeshare last year. It is a policy that may make a few people happy but overall decreases the value of owning a timeshare for one week owners and, as in our case, completely keeps a lot of people from wanting to play the Marriott game at all.

I have to agree with the above. I would be extremely disappointed if Starwood implemented an advanced reservations system for elite owners. Even if someone only owns 1 week, they may have spent $40K+ for that week. I think it's only fair that they have an equal shot with all other owners at that resort to book the week they want. I'm sure when Marriott first implemented the 13-month window it wasn't a problem, but overtime it seems to have developed into a huge problem. To date, I have never heard that any Starwood owner, booking at 12 mos., has had a problem getting a reservation. I would hate for that to change.

That being said, I appreciate Negma's proactive work on thinking about positive things Starwood can do for elite owners.

Glorian

 

[VacationPro]

I'm against requals. There is no need to do this. These weeks fly out of inventory without the incentive. I'm more than a little annoyed that I was told the only way to 5 Star was through buying from the developer, then I find people being allowed to circumvent the system for business reasons that completely escape me.

The "gaming the system", as you put it, is Starwood's own explaination of how you get the most out of your 5 Star membership. The strategy was presented by a VP in a in NYC in the Sheraton Hotel and Towers. It was the first in the series of informational seminars for owners.

...not that anyone would need a presentation to realize how to use an "as available" upgrade benefit most effectively.

How you get the idea that it confirms I would "expect" an upgrade is beyond me. I even wrote in my letter that it was on an availablity basis.

It's pretty clear to me you're upset with the idea I'm against requals, so now you're reaching for anything else to smear me... label me a pompous demander of amenities.

I'm not upset with anything you said--you obviously have a right to your opinion. I don't happen to agree, but I'm certainly not trying to "smear" or "label" you.

In you letter, you said "...the reason I bought so many SVN weeks. My plan was to split my 2BR units, use the 1BR on high demand times and my studio on low demand times to get an upgrade to a 1BR... "

That sounds like an expectation to me, if it is a reason you bought "so many SVN weeks".

My point is that I think your letter would have been more effective if you would have limited your comments to the item that seems to be most important to you, which I believe is the loss of the upgrade benefit.

 

[KOR5Star]

I'm not upset with anything you said--you obviously have a right to your opinion. I don't happen to agree, but I'm certainly not trying to "smear" or "label" you.

You wrote Explaining how you game the system is pretty bold, too--it essentially confirms their point that an upgrade was "expected", even if it was during off-peak times. It certainly felt like a back hand to me.

BTW, I didn't specify "off-peak". I pointedly wrote "low demand times". It's not a subtle difference. "Off peak" could be any week that is not "peak". It could still have a decently high demand, but not considered peak. "Low demand times" are self explanitory. They are clearly times when the property is under utilized with much vacancy... it is the OPPOSITE of "peak".

In your letter, you said "...the reason I bought so many SVN weeks. My plan was to split my 2BR units, use the 1BR on high demand times and my studio on low demand times to get an upgrade to a 1BR... "

That sounds like an expectation to me, if it is a reason you bought "so many SVN weeks".

Yes, as I stated in my intial response to you, I didn't need a presentation by an SVN VP to tell me how to use the benefit. That was immediately obvious. I only pointed out that SVN actually taught Elites to "game the system" in Manhattan. I didn't say that was the first time I realized how to use the benefit.

Again, note my quote: "low demand times"

My point is that I think your letter would have been more effective if you would have limited your comments to the item that seems to be most important to you, which I believe is the loss of the upgrade benefit.

I wish you would have simply said this to begin with.

It's all important to me. The general decline in amenities and priviledges is important to me. If it were just the upgrades, that's easy to take care of... simply buy more weeks. I'm already pushing one million StarOptions.

But it's not "just" the upgrades. It's the devaluation of StarPoints. It's going to the owner's update and having them bash what I currently own because they want me to "upgrade" into WKORV-N. It's letting every Tom, Dick and Harry become 5 Star and compete with me for upgrades. The exclusivity of 5 Star Elite is gone. Why even call it "Elite" if people are becoming 5 Star for as little as $89K?

Yes, I'm glad you said we are entitled to have our conflicting opinions. Your initial post seemed to say something completely different, hence my response.

 

[Denise L]

I would hope that Starwood would not want to follow in Marriott's steps. Starwood would be far better off differentiating itself by being the best of the best (wasn't there an earlier thread about combining all the great features of the various hotel-based systems?), instead of making any system-wide decisions based on pressure from an Elite class. Clearly they would upset a very large number of regular owners by offering Elites an advantage in making regular reservations at their home resorts . Is there anything in the fine print about changing the reservation system on a whim ?!

If they did, I would want them to give us plenty of notice and offer to buy back our weeks at the price that we paid so that I could by a Hyatt instead. I also would see no reason to recommend Starwood to any of my friends or relatives.

This class system is depressing to me, so forgive me if I vent a little. I thought that by buying a week at a nice timeshare, I could own 1/52 of a five-star villa and imagine for a week that I could always live like that. Class should not matter. We are all owners. If others can afford to own multiple weeks or are savvy enough to requalify enough resales to be able to combine SOs, etc, then congratulations to them for being able to enjoy so many nice vacations. You can enjoy the very nice welcome basket and the special check-in desk and the ability to convert to Starpoints every year, etc. Sell your intervals and buy a Marriott if you want the 13-month window.

 

[mepiccolo]

Couldn't have said it better Denise. TUG has definitely taught us one thing: if you want to be assured ocean front, buy ocean front. If you want to be assured you can get into Hawaii, buy a Hawaiian timeshare, don't buy a California or Arizona timeshare for less money and then be angry when you can't trade into Hawaii. You can only be assured what is on your deed-you certainly can't count on what TS salespeople tell you. Buy what you want where you want. Last year I innocently started one of the longest threads ever on the Marriott site when I inquired about purchasing a week and it got into the whole 13-month reservation priority for multiple week owners. The multiple week owners were happy as pie about the process but there were several more unhappy one week owners. Worse yet, the 13-month reservation window is apparently abused by people who purposely reserve the highest demand weeks solely to rent them out for profit. That really sucks for the other Marriott owners who were hoping to take their family on vacation over Easter break, for example. If I was in charge of Starwood I would not sacrifice the happiness of many just to make a few happy. We are all owners and we we all signed on the dotted line about a 12-month reservation window. I agree with Denise-if you think the 13-month reservation window is so great, go buy Marriott...leave Starwood's superior reservation system as is.

 

[LisaRex]

I absolutely agree giving a priority booking window to elites would cause an uproar among the non-elites, which I assume are the majority of owners. The lack of priority window for elites was one of the key reasons I bought Starwood over Marriott, even though I preferred Marriott's overall program. Given my husband's career, there will never be a time when he'll be able to take 4 weeks of vacation in one year. I'm lucky I can get him to take off for 2. So I'll never own more than one week unless and until we retire. If elite owners were able to hopscotch me at my home resort, I wouldn't have paid a $20k premium for my view.

That being said, I think multiple week owners deserve something significant for their loyalty. As I said earlier, if home resort owners haven't booked all the better views and/or the larger units, then elite owners should be given a complimentary upgrade. They should also be given priority once the internal trade window opens up since our view category goes out the window once we leave our home resort.

 

[skim118]

There is no way for SVN to modify the 12-month reservation window. According to the WKORV deed the only person that has reservation priority over a single-week owner at WKORV is a multiple week owner at WKORV. Clearly the multiple WKORV week owner can book two weeks and obtain a 12 month + 1 week window and so on.

But an SVN Elite member that owns 1 WKORV week & 1 WKV week is not allowed to gain any reservation advantage over a single week owner during the WKORV home-resort preference period. The home-resort preference rules cannot be changed by SVN.

They can change the 8-month float window for Network usage & maybe they can give consideration to the SVN Elites during that period.

 

[califgal]

Westin better not go the way of Marriott with the 13 mo advance booking for muliple week owners! Right now the reservation system is about as fair as can be. If you call 12 mo. out first thing in the a.m. ...you'll get what you paid for and most likely a request of a high floor.

I bet they will continue to upgrade "when available" just not officially. I don't think they ever promised upgrades to elites. It was pitched as such from the sales people, but there was the pecking order.

5* said he was against requal's?? Did I read that wrong? Didn't you get to 5* by following that path? Or am I confusing posts?

Westin needs to be the leader in customer service and product...not a follower of Marriottt.

 

[mesamirage]

Right now the reservation system is about as fair as can be. If you call 12 mo. out first thing in the a.m. ....

I know everyone is used to what we have... but NO one can really be that happy with Starwoods reservation system that requires you to get up at 4:45am, 12 months out to the day, to make a reservation!!??!! Can they?? We spent 10's of thousands of dollars for these resorts and we have to get up at the crack of dawn like its Black Friday after Thanksgiving hoping we can get thru on the phone to get a reservation!! I feel like I'm trying to be the 12th caller into a radio station to win a pair of $10 tickets to a concert! Starwoods reservation system needs to be upgraded to the 21st century with software thats smart, fair, and able to handle on the priority rules that Starwood and us the owners would like to have in place!!

I've only owned Starwood since last year and I'm already fed up with the reservation system.... it really seems to be the weak link in Starwood being able to keep everyone happy. STARWOOD UPGRADE AND FIX OUR RESERVATION SYSTEM!! Its going to be the demise of the greatest collection of resorts that any Timeshare/Hotel company has every put together. Starwood, Figure it out... if you can't, hire some minds that can or pay some 3rd party to find a solution.

Steve

PS Hyatt has the reservation system figured out... yeah every system can be better, but at least its real time, web-based, and fair.

 

[califgal]

Of course the 'system' can be improved, I meant right now bascially we all have the same chance ....If I can get up at 4:45 am calif time, once or twice a year so can anyone else. I agree in this age of technology it should be able to be done on the computer.

 

[mesamirage]

Califgal,

Sorry, I didn't really mean that to feel like it was directed at you... its directed at Starwood (and the fact that we have all be conditioned to accept the 6am reservation phone call) and its Starwood that has me and I'm sure so many others frustrated when it comes to the reservation system. I also believe this current issue of taking away the room upgrade perk from the Elite members is just another example of a BROKE reservation system... I know Starwood could keep the perk and handle it correctly, including some method of being able to check on your upgrade status online, if they would just FIX the reservation system. Instead some suit at the corporate office decided taking away a perk instead of FIXING the real problem, which is the reservation system, is the best way to solve the issue. INSANE!! Its like taking away a toy from my kids because they can't share it... they both end up with nothing but the complaining goes away. What kind of thinking and problem solving is that by Starwood?? Fire some people who don't understand how to solve this and bring in some fresh thinking.

Steve

 

[mariawolf]

Just FYI--for those who commented that the front desk might surprise an elite owner at check in--according to Ms. Clark in my conversation this won't happen--that is what I find most frustrating--a larger unit will stay empty even if available--as I think I said previously hotels are the ones who promoted asking for upgrades and to think they are available but not allowed to offer them to elite members makes no sense!

 

[LisaRex]

Just FYI--for those who commented that the front desk might surprise an elite owner at check in--according to Ms. Clark in my conversation this won't happen--that is what I find most frustrating--a larger unit will stay empty even if available--as I think I said previously hotels are the ones who promoted asking for upgrades and to think they are available but not allowed to offer them to elite members makes no sense!

I agree. Those great OF and OV rooms should never sit empty unless they are being remodeled.

But as I said before, I wouldn't have a problem if they offered non-complimentary upgrades (with a significant discount for elites) if the money raised went to reduce the MFs and improve the property for everyone.

 

[LisaRex]

It's all important to me. The general decline in amenities and priviledges is important to me. If it were just the upgrades, that's easy to take care of... simply buy more weeks. I'm already pushing one million StarOptions.

If I were a 5* owner, I'd definitely be ticked. I'd also be very surprised if Starwood didn't bend over backwards to keep you happy despite the new policy. I'd love to know what kind of actual experiences you have with upgrades. If they do, indeed, let rooms sit empty vs. accomodating you, I'd support a letter writing campaign to get them to change that policy. I'm not an elite owner, but I think that Starwood should play fair.

When's your next trip?

 

[KOR5Star]

I would hope that Starwood would not want to follow in Marriott's steps. Starwood would be far better off differentiating itself by being the best of the best (wasn't there an earlier thread about combining all the great features of the various hotel-based systems?), instead of making any system-wide decisions based on pressure from an Elite class. Clearly they would upset a very large number of regular owners by offering Elites an advantage in making regular reservations at their home resorts . Is there anything in the fine print about changing the reservation system on a whim ?!

If they did, I would want them to give us plenty of notice and offer to buy back our weeks at the price that we paid so that I could by a Hyatt instead. I also would see no reason to recommend Starwood to any of my friends or relatives.

This class system is depressing to me, so forgive me if I vent a little. I thought that by buying a week at a nice timeshare, I could own 1/52 of a five-star villa and imagine for a week that I could always live like that. Class should not matter. We are all owners. If others can afford to own multiple weeks or are savvy enough to requalify enough resales to be able to combine SOs, etc, then congratulations to them for being able to enjoy so many nice vacations. You can enjoy the very nice welcome basket and the special check-in desk and the ability to convert to Starpoints every year, etc. Sell your intervals and buy a Marriott if you want the 13-month window.

As a 5 Star Elite, I completely agree with you. I DO NOT want to be able to make reservations any earlier than a one week owner can. That level of fairness is one of the things that drew me to SVN. It's the only fair way to run things.

Yes, caveat emptor, but I would like and expect the major perks and fairness which define a program of membership to remain intact. It seems unethical to do otherwise. I would expect the items in writing to represent my minimum benefits in case the management company changes, but if our management company (SVN) remains, they should live up to the promises made when we bought.

I do not see any large unexpected economic challenges from offering Elites upgrades, like promised.

Pardon me for this, but if a member is so... well... STUPID to beleive the upgrade is guarenteed and not on an availability basis, that's their problem and should not be made mine.

 

[Westin5Star]

Of course the 'system' can be improved, I meant right now bascially we all have the same chance ....If I can get up at 4:45 am calif time, once or twice a year so can anyone else. I agree in this age of technology it should be able to be done on the computer.

We don't all have the same chance. I have a much better chance than most and I don't have to wake up at 4:45am to do it. At one of my companies, I have a telesales division currently with with 40 employees / dialers. My IT department makes sure that all dialers are set to Starwood at that time and then my admin books my room. I'm still sleeping! Again there is no way to make it 100% fair but this way certainly isn't; except that we can all purchase dialers and hire employees.

I had also commented on page 1 (I believe) of this post that I was told over the phone that better rooms will go unused and that upgrades will NEVER be given. This could obviously change and they may surprise us buy of right now we are being told NO UPGRADES EVER!

I have another call with Starwood on Monday. I have a list of things to discuss with them but I will specifically be discussing:
1. The communication of the change- very insulting- "There's no better way to celebrate the 3rd anniversary"- if you are going to take away a great beneift just say so and give the reason- don't insult everyone's intelligence.
2. The purpose / reason for the chance- I do not believe the survey excuse; especially after reading this post- once I learn the actual reason for the change I hope to address it.
3. Possiblity of reversing / modifying the change- I doubt anything can happen on my phone call but it won't hurt to ask and to make some suggestions that would be beneficial to Starwood- lets face it they will lose sales given their new policy- I will at minimum discuss having an unwritten rule of being upgraded if bettter units are not being used.
4. Suggestions of alternative benefits for Elite- I liked the idea of regular maid service, improved timestamps (same day 12 months out), first use of StarOptions conversions (maybe requests put in at 9 months out to be recorded first thing 8 months out), food and beverage discounts, etc.

I am still just hoping that Starwood made a quick mistake and that they realize it and fix it. The calls and emails into Starwood will only help the chance of the decision being reversed!

 

[KOR5Star]

There is no way for SVN to modify the 12-month reservation window. According to the WKORV deed the only person that has reservation priority over a single-week owner at WKORV is a multiple week owner at WKORV. Clearly the multiple WKORV week owner can book two weeks and obtain a 12 month + 1 week window and so on.

But an SVN Elite member that owns 1 WKORV week & 1 WKV week is not allowed to gain any reservation advantage over a single week owner during the WKORV home-resort preference period. The home-resort preference rules cannot be changed by SVN.

They can change the 8-month float window for Network usage & maybe they can give consideration to the SVN Elites during that period.

Not entirely true, but very close.

As a multiweek owner at WKORV, I CAN NOT book earlier than anyone else when I'm using multiple weeks in a row.

What happens is I call for the first week, 12 months out at the earliest moment. SVN then sends an internal e-mail, which sits and gathers dust until the following week. When someone strolls in that day, get their coffee, shoot the breeze with their coworker, scratch their butt, adjust their chair, etc..., they finally get down to booking the reservations in their e-mail pile. This e-mail pile consists of booking requests for the ENTIRE network. If it's a peak week, just imagine how many requests are in there.

From my conversations with SVN, there is ONE person that does this... ONE!

Again, if the second week is a high demand week, with lots of early morning calls, it is VERY likely, that a multi-week owner will not get a great timestamp for their second week.

The "unofficial" policy is the original timestamp for the original week is kept as a note attached to all subsequent reservations. Call me anal, but I want the "official" timestamp to have the very best time I can get for my entire vacation. I don't want any surprises.

 

[KOR5Star]

If I were a 5* owner, I'd definitely be ticked. I'd also be very surprised if Starwood didn't bend over backwards to keep you happy despite the new policy. I'd love to know what kind of actual experiences you have with upgrades. If they do, indeed, let rooms sit empty vs. accomodating you, I'd support a letter writing campaign to get them to change that policy. I'm not an elite owner, but I think that Starwood should play fair.

When's your next trip?

I received a note from SVN saying they were going to call me about it to discuss. I truly hope it's a discussion with the possibility for change and not simply telling me the same thing verbally.

I was just there on low demand week in March and received a 1BR upgrade for my studio. I'll be there again in August. I did not foresee my chances for an upgrade as good during this time in August as it was, but now with the change, I see my chances for an upgrade as completely gone.

My message to SVN will be that the discomfort and dissappointment experienced by Elite owners from not getting upgrades is a function of their sales team's lies, not an intrinsic function of the benefit. If properly explained in the first place, there would be absolutely no problem.

 

[KOR5Star]

We don't all have the same chance. I have a much better chance than most and I don't have to wake up at 4:45am to do it. At one of my companies, I have a telesales division currently with with 40 employees / dialers. My IT department makes sure that all dialers are set to Starwood at that time and then my admin books my room. I'm still sleeping! Again there is no way to make it 100% fair but this way certainly isn't; except that we can all purchase dialers and hire employees.

I had also commented on page 1 (I believe) of this post that I was told over the phone that better rooms will go unused and that upgrades will NEVER be given. This could obviously change and they may surprise us buy of right now we are being told NO UPGRADES EVER!

I have another call with Starwood on Monday. I have a list of things to discuss with them but I will specifically be discussing:
1. The communication of the change- very insulting- "There's no better way to celebrate the 3rd anniversary"- if you are going to take away a great beneift just say so and give the reason- don't insult everyone's intelligence.
2. The purpose / reason for the chance- I do not believe the survey excuse; especially after reading this post- once I learn the actual reason for the change I hope to address it.
3. Possiblity of reversing / modifying the change- I doubt anything can happen on my phone call but it won't hurt to ask and to make some suggestions that would be beneficial to Starwood- lets face it they will lose sales given their new policy- I will at minimum discuss having an unwritten rule of being upgraded if bettter units are not being used.
4. Suggestions of alternative benefits for Elite- I liked the idea of regular maid service, improved timestamps (same day 12 months out), first use of StarOptions conversions (maybe requests put in at 9 months out to be recorded first thing 8 months out), food and beverage discounts, etc.

I am still just hoping that Starwood made a quick mistake and that they realize it and fix it. The calls and emails into Starwood will only help the chance of the decision being reversed!

I agree with all your numbered points.

As for the phone thing, we've had this discussion before.

I'm comfortable with the incredibly small group of people having an unfair advantage because they have access to a phone bank like you do. I'd bet we could count the number of SV owners that have this advantage only using our fingers and probably only using one hand.

If the reservation system goes on the web, thousands "in the know" will be able to use bots for book their reservations in milliseconds. Those not in the know will get bots from people in the know.

Looking at my sister's experience with timeshare reservations in an internet based system, I highly suspect the rampant use of bots. I've witnessed her get denied when she was trying at the very first moment available. She's a multiweek owner an even has an advantage over "lesser" owners... and still got beat. The rampant use of bots seems like the best explaination.

 

[Fredm]

Upside

While the frustration and disappointment over loss of upgrades is understandable, the expanded window for the StarPoints election may be getting short shift here. As is true for all use alternatives, its value is directly related to how you would take advantage of it. Nonetheless, a lot can be said for the ability to now substitute real value in the case of an 11th hour cancellation. Prior to this change any reservation date post the first quarter risked being lost without opportunity to obtain a substitute value. Upgrades have a value on the margain, but saving a use year's value can be worth much more when confronted with its loss. From this perspective, the extension until October virtually insures against loss of use. Perhaps not an equivelent benefit to ugrade entitlement, but certainly a redeeming feature, IMHO. As all such benefits are subject to change, surely this is not the end of life as we know it.
Just a perspective.